NASCAR crash rips hole in Speedway fence; no fans injured

Thursday

Feb 20, 2014 at 12:01 AMFeb 20, 2014 at 5:52 AM

The cars of Matt Kenseth, the No. 20, and Joey Logano, the No. 22, got into each other.

By DINAH VOYLES PULVERdinah.pulver@news-jrnl.com

A high-speed crash during practice for the Daytona 500 sent a car careening into the grandstand safety fence Wednesday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway.The crash — which ripped part of the fence and damaged a cable — occurred at nearly the same spot where parts of a car flew through the catch fence during a last-lap crash at a Nationwide Series race a year ago. The crash last February injured more than 28 fans.No fans or drivers were injured during Wednesday’s crash, which brought the first Sprint Cup practice of the day to an abrupt halt, Speedway officials said. Only a few fans were in the stands for the session, including Dan Hopkins of Ormond Beach. Hopkins said he was also in the stands during the Nationwide crash. “I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I was like ‘Oh, not again.’”The crash flipped the No. 30 Toyota of Parker Kligerman into the air and on top of another car, carrying it along the SAFER Barrier that lines the inside of the wall. During Kligerman’s slide, it appeared his car’s fender caught and ripped the fence. “The fence performed the way it was designed to,” said Speedway spokesman Lenny Santiago. The fence is designed to keep race cars on the track and out of the grandstands. Speedway crews rushed to repair the fence and replace a cable, while in the garages teams rushed to try to repair cars or begin preparing backup cars to compete in tonight’s qualifying races.“We are replacing one cable and some of the mesh fencing that was affected,” Santiago said. The repairs, which took a little more than an hour, were made along 120 feet of fence, Santiago said. The crash last February forced Speedway crews to work all night to repair the catch fence. In that crash, a car driven by Kyle Larson came apart, and large parts, including a tire and wheel, went through a crossover gate, an area of fencing that opens and closes to allow fans to move from the infield into the stands before a race.Over the summer, based on recommendations from two engineering consultants, the Speedway beefed up the cabling and fencing system at the crossover gates. Additionally, to help fans move more quickly into the stands before a race, the Speedway has since replaced two of the gates with new crossover ramps.On Wednesday, 34 of the 49 entries took part in the 4 p.m. practice session. A large pack of those cars was thundering around the 2.5-mile tri-oval with top speeds just under 200 mph. Drivers were getting accustomed to the new feel of the cars, which have rear spoilers that are a half-inch higher than last season.Just before 5 p.m., the No. 22 Ford of Joey Logano made contact with the No. 22 Toyota of Matt Kenseth in the middle lane of heavy traffic. Logano’s car careened to the left and into the No. 27 of Paul Menard, which slid back up the track and sent Kligerman’s car out of control. Kligerman’s Toyota landed on top of the No. 83 Toyota of Ryan Truex and slid along the top of the outside wall, along the fence. Kligerman’s car then flipped onto its roof and barreled back across the track. In total, the crash involved seven cars, with heavy damages to six cars, NASCAR officials said.Spectator Tom San Antonio of Port Orange said he didn’t see any debris come through the fence.“We were standing in the grandstands and saw the car go up on the rails and then come back down,” said San Antonio.Afterwards, several drivers reported they had been a little nervous about the aggressive driving and the dense pack of cars. The crash was expected to stir up high-spirited and intense conversations in the garage and driver RV lot. In heated comments after emerging from the care center, Kligerman and others said they thought Logano and Kenseth might have been racing “too aggressively” during the session. “I’m pretty upset about how all that went down,” Kligerman said. Hopkins, the fan, agreed there was “a lot of aggressive driving.”“These guys are really going at it,” he said. “Came out of Turn 4 and they were 3-wide. This is just practice. They were getting into it like they were racing for the checkered flag. It was pretty unbelievable.” The big crash was the second of the session.The second session of the day went off without a hitch. The sessions were in advance of Thursday’s pair of 150-mile qualifying races (the Budweiser Duel), which will cement the starting lineup for Sunday’s Daytona 500. The first race is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start, with the second starting shortly after the end of the first.The biggest competitive question regarding the qualifying races involves just how competitive everyone will treat them. Those teams with a confirmed starting spot for the Daytona 500 will have to decide how hard they want to race.“It’s very difficult,” said Carl Edwards, one of those without a worry about Sunday’s starting berth. “When you start upfront, you definitely want to be aggressive and stay up front and win the race, but there is a lot on the line in this event (the 500). There are people that are going to be really, really trying hard and whenever you see that at these restrictor-plate races, you get the chance for chaos, and we have to balance what we want with how much risk we’re going to take.”Four practice stints are also on Thursday’s schedule — two each for the Nationwide and Truck Series. The Truck Series opens its 2014 season Friday night with the NextEra Energy Resources 250 (100 laps) and the Nationwide Series opens Saturday afternoon with the Drive4COPD 300 (120 laps). Staff writers Godwin Kelly and Ken Willis contributed to this story.